PENDLETON — Most of Umatilla (79%) and Morrow (72%) counties are in moderate drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. That’s the least severe of the four drought categories — moderate, severe, extreme and exceptional.

Almost half of Union County, in the northern half, is in moderate drought. No part of Baker or Grant counties is in drought.

Bob Roselle, a wheat farmer near Adams, east of Pendleton, said the drought cut his crop’s yield by 10% to as high as 20% in some places.

“We still get decent crops, but they weren’t what they would have been if we’d had late spring rains,” he said.

On the positive side, Roselle said relatively abundant rains in late summer and fall have given next year’s wheat crop a strong start. Because wheat crops aren’t irrigated, farmers depend solely on rain and snow to keep their soil, and crops, in good condition.

Rainfall at the Eastern Oregon Regional Airport in Pendleton was above average in September (0.9 inches, average of 0.57) and October (1.26 inches, average of 1.05). And November exceeded average in just the first two weeks, with 1.49 inches as of Nov. 15. The November average is 1.43 inches.

Looking ahead, Boselle said he doesn’t have a good sense of what to expect.

“Our weather pattern seems to be changing,” he said. “You really don’t have a consistency as far as what’s average and what’s not.”

Ample rain this fall isn’t the only positive for dryland wheat farmers, said Don Wysocki, a soil scientist with the Oregon State University Extension Service at Blue Mountain Community College, Pendleton.

Temperatures have also been above average.

The average high temperature at the Eastern Oregon Regional Airport was 65.6 degrees in October, compared with an average of 64.1. The average low that month was 42.7 degrees, 2 degrees above average.

November has been even balmier so far, compared with average. Through Nov. 15, the average high at the airport was 56.3 degrees, compared with an average of 48.9. The average low was 39.6, more than 6 degrees warmer than average.

“So the crop’s off to a fairly good start,” Wysocki said. “Everything’s established well, and it’s like a runner running a race. He had a good start out of the blocks.”

Although McKay and Cold Springs reservoirs in Umatilla County are at about 12% capacity, with an average snowpack this winter, both should refill next spring, said George Perry, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Pendleton.

“Recent rains in the last few weeks have improved overall drought conditions over the Blue Mountains and the lower Columbia Basin though most of the area remains at a moderate drought level,” Perry said.

Although as Douglas, the Creighton meteorologist noted, El Nino winters typically result in warmer, drier winters in the Northwest, Perry said six to eight El Nino winters since 1940 have had above average snowfall in the regon.

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